Outed
by SpangleBangle
Summary: Jack and Yuusei have been perfectly content in living with their secret, even cherished its privacy, but soon the duelling world will be exposed to the truth. How will their friends react? Yuusei/Jack. Rated for occasional smut.
1. Chapter 1

Hello there. I wrote this a while ago to get my head screwed back on for writing, thought it was good enough to post. And just to let you all know I haven't died completely, I'm just veeeery busy OTL Once again, I will _not_ be dropping Dubious Saviour, I'm going to get back to that before Xmas if I possibly can.

So enjoy some Kingcrabshipping C:

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's (c) Kazuki Takahashi

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><p>The sun dawned rather dramatically over Neo Domino City, showing all the tall shiny buildings in their awesome glory.<p>

There was, of course, one man awake to see it, and staring out at all the glittering spires of the city laid out before him. As he thought he absently threaded his fingers through a small tail of hair by his ear, feeling the strange softness of the hair with a dim surprise. He was dressed in navy jeans and a black vest, and his blonde hair was rather more disordered than usual.

The door behind him leading into his large bedroom was partially cracked, and as he looked back towards it a peaceful smile replaced the sombre expression. He crept silently back into the room and paused to survey the man tangled in his bedsheets. Yuusei was hugging a pillow to his bare chest, face peaceful in slumber, the tracking dye on his cheek hidden by the fall of wild black and yellow-striped hair.

Jack sat down next to the sleeping man and gently stroked his cheek. "Yuusei, wake up."

Yuusei mumbled something and slowly blinked his eyes open, looking up at Jack immediately. "Morning, Jack. What's up?"

Jack couldn't help but smile and stroked his cheek again. "I've got a meeting with Goodwin, I have to go."

Yuusei sat up properly, the covers falling down around his hips, and shuffled closer to him. "Alright, if you have to go. I'll let myself out."

"You'd better," Jack smiled, "Because I'm sure as hell not sticking around to let you out, and I need to get to this meeting."

Yuusei laughed affectionately and ruffled Jack's hair. "Shall I swing by later?"

Jack made a pleased sound in his throat and pulled Yuusei close, kissing his cheek. "Please do."

"Then I will," he replied, raising his hand to brush the back of Jack's neck for a moment. "Now I thought you had a meeting to get to?"

"Yes, unfortunately," Jack said regretfully, feeling the now-familiar ache bloom through his body, the ache to be pushed down on the pillows and plundered to his limit.

"Get to it, then," Yuusei grinned, eyes sparkling with mirth as his head dipped to kiss Jack's neck, where a raised pink lump was forming from the night before.

A breathy moan escaped Jack's lips and his eyes fluttered closed for a moment. "You're making it rather hard to leave, you know."

"I know."

Jack shivered at the smug note in Yuusei's voice and pulled back with an effort of will. "Right, I'm actually going."

Yuusei smiled in that rare way of his, special because he so rarely did it, and sat back. "Don't forget your coat," he teased.

Jack swatted him lightly on the arm and got up, sweeping his white coat off the floor and checking his deck was still in its holster. As he left Yuusei was heading for the en-suite bathroom to have a shower.

In the lift down from the penthouse suite, he tried to force his hair into some sort of order in the reflective walls, rethreading the longer tails into their bands. He wasn't entirely happy with the result as it refused to co-operate, looking rather fuzzy and played-with instead of sleek and smooth.

He gave it up as a bad job and pulled his high collar closer into his neck to try and hide the slowly reddening mark, courtesy of Yuusei. It made him smile, though.

He arrived at Goodwin's building without incident, passing the Phoenix Whirlwind into the care of a nervous valet, made only more nervous by the knowledge a nasty fate would await anyone who left so much as a smudge on the precious D-Runner.

Mina greeted him chirpily in the foyer, taking the lift with him up to Goodwin's office. "Had a good evening, Jack? You left awfully early after that duel yesterday."

Jack smirked, remembering Yuusei's call with a flush of heat. "What reason was there to stay? That loser didn't deserve my commiserations, and I was busy."

"No," Mina said carefully, checking her blue hair in the mirror walls, "But Mister Goodwin had you booked for autographs afterwards, and a conference with your sponsors, and you just vanished."

Jack shrugged carelessly, remembering the sight of Yuusei leaning against his Runner in Jack's garage and slowly pulling his gloves off. "Hardly important, Mina."

She frowned down at the floor, treading carefully as ever around his volatile temper, even if he did seem a bit more mellowed than she had thought. "But what _were_ you doing, Jack? Goodwin – and your fans and sponsors – will want answers. Good ones."

"They'll just lap up the same old bullshit about going to clear my head after a duel – those helmets get awfully hot in a Turbo Duel, you know."

Mina frowned up at him. "Jack, what's wrong with you? Can't you at least tell me what you were doing?"

He bristled at her tone, refusing to feel guilty. "There's nothing wrong with me, Mina!" He snapped. "Can't I have some things private anymore? It's none of your business."

She looked back down at the floor pensively, obviously hurt. The mood when the lift arrived was sour and uncomfortable, but Jack put it behind him as he walked to Goodwin's office. Thinking about hearing Yuusei's dark laugh in his ear made it a lot easier. _Worth it,_ he thought as he entered the office, Mina slipping in behind him and standing unobtrusively against the wall.

"Morning, Jack," Goodwin said coolly, frowning at him from behind his desk. "So nice of you to agree to come."

Jack lounged in a chair, bored already. "Shall we get the shouting over first, or would you prefer to embarrass yourself by trying to be subtle?"

Goodwin glared at him. "Where were you?"

"Around."

Goodwin thumped his fist down in the desk, making an odd metallic sound. "Dammit, Jack, you have no idea the amount of work I had to do to excuse you and save your public image! Now you owe me a proper answer!"

Jack looked at him crossly. "I don't owe you anything, Goodwin. I know we had an agreement but that doesn't extend to my private life." He then unconsciously ran the hair of one of his now-fuzzy tails through his fingers.

Goodwin narrowed his eyes at the lounging duellist, taking in his messy appearance and the edge of a red mark on his neck, mostly covered by the collar. "Who did you see?" He demanded sharply.

He knew he had struck the right answer because Jack's hand dropped back to the arm of the chair and his already-expressionless face turned stony. "It's none of your business who I see."

"It is if you're going to get yourself into a scandal, Jack! And your sponsors would not be happy to know you blew them off for some – some – whim!"

Jack frowned thunderously. "As if they could afford to withdraw backing! And it's not a whim, it's—" he stopped abruptly, aware he had already said too much.

"It's not like you're the champion anymore, Jack. You can't coast on victory; not after Yuusei beat you like that in front of the world. And if it's not a whim, what is it? It had better not be a Senator's wife."

Jack looked away and snorted unexpectedly. "I can assure you, Goodwin, it's not a Senator's wife. The person I've been seeing is about as far from that as you'd imagine."

"Some Satellite whore then?" Goodwin sighed. "I'm not sure if that's better or worse."

"_I'm _a Satellite, Goodwin, or had you forgotten that?" Jack said testily. "So what if I'm seeing someone – not a whore – from my home?"

"That slum is not your home anymore, Jack. As far as the world is concerned, you're a purebred citizen. If it got out that you were slumming… you'd be out on your ear, Jack. And who would take you then? Not the citizens, and not your old gang in that slum, not after you stole that card and Runner. You burnt that bridge two years ago."

Jack flinched slightly and remained silent.

Goodwin calmed his voice, knowing how to push Jack's buttons. "Now, you need to tell me. You don't have to give me a name, just whether it will disgrace you if it gets out."

After a few minutes, Jack said quietly, "It would. Very much."

Goodwin sighed. "Will you break it off?"

Jack immediately refused, gaze flinty. The older man hadn't really expected him to acquiesce. "Just promise me you're being careful, Jack. About keeping it secret, and about… anything else. I can't think what would be worse – a sex scandal, or a paternity scandal."

To Goodwin's surprise, Jack laughed bitterly, the sound ugly and harsh as he touched what was clearly a livid red bite on his neck. "Trust me, Goodwin, there's no worry on either of those fronts."

"Hm. Well, enjoy it while it lasts, Jack. But give me notice if you're going to vanish again, and I'll keep covering for you."

Jack nodded tersely. "What was it you called me for?"

They moved on to the actual topic for the meeting, acting as if that conversation had never happened. Mina remained mute in the corner, tactful as always.

At the end of the meeting Jack headed straight to the stadium to take his Runner around the track a few times, trying to forget his argument with Goodwin. He had known that conversation was coming, of course, but he didn't exactly revel in the knowledge it had happened.

In Goodwin's office, Lazar slipped inside as soon as Jack and Mina had left. "Sir, I have those reports you wanted on Mister Fudo's movements."

"Ah, good, Lazar," Goodwin said, taking the electronic notepad from him and scanning it, trying to see a pattern of movement in the lines superimposed over a street map of the city and the Satellite. "This is current?"

"Current and live, sir. Interesting, isn't it?" Lazar said slyly. "Yuusei's been slipping in and out of the city far more than we'd thought. And he seems to have kept some strange company."

Goodwin sighed, too worn out by his argument with Jack to understand what Lazar was saying. "I'll look at it later, Lazar. I can't think right now."

"Very well, sir," Lazar said smoothly, taking the device back and collapsing the holographic screen. "I'll go ahead with those measures we talked about?"

Goodwin flapped a hand at him. "Yes, yes. Do what you must."

Lazar bowed respectfully and left, going to meet with a PI he had used before.


	2. Chapter 2

More~

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's (c) Kazuki Takahashi

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><p>Yuusei was back in the Satellite, spending some time with Rally and the others and enduring their praise for winning the Fortune Cup with good grace. They were a little curious where he had been disappearing to every night for the past few weeks, but he avoided their questions deftly, all the while counting the time until he could chance the journey through the tunnel to the city, where Jack would be waiting for him.<p>

_Waiting with spread legs,_ he thought, biting his lip in anticipation, his mind filling with memories from last night and before that, to his previous visits. He dropped the tools he was holding and leaned against his Runner as he was lost to the pleasant recollections.

He couldn't really recall how it had started, couldn't pin down the look or the word that had led them to grabbing for each other with words spilling from their hearts and crushed between their hungry mouths. He only knew that he had jumped at it, all the yearning of their years apart suddenly and explosively realised in a hurried and crude grappling of flesh, that first time. But then, the next few times… Yuusei smiled to himself, a dull heat thudding through his blood. Now he couldn't believe they hadn't realised it sooner. And he couldn't imagine anything else, anyone else.

Rally peeked in around the makeshift doorway to Yuusei's 'garage'. The look on his friend's face took him aback a little, as he had never seen it before. Yuusei looked… almost smug in his contentment, like a cat stretching in the sunlight. His eyes were far away and glittering with some emotion Rally couldn't understand, knowing he was too young to recognise.

He had never seen Yuusei look so… happy. And he knew that if Yuusei hadn't been alone, that expression would never have appeared.

Rally made to creep away but scuffed against the wall, the slight sound making Yuusei jump, his expression shuttering down.

"Who is it?" He called uncertainly, sounding a little panicked, as if he'd been caught doing something illegal.

"Just me," Rally called, stepping out with a smile, resolving to let Yuusei keep his private moment private. "I wanted to see how your Runner was coming along, it looks great."

Yuusei smiled a little at him, relief flashing across his normally-impassive face for a second. He bent to pick up the dropped tools, looking vaguely embarrassed to have dropped them, and unobtrusively slipping two coils of metal into his pocket. "Sure thing, Rally. Look here…"

After an hour or two, Yuusei glanced up at the clock with a start. "Rally, I have to go…"

"Where do you keep going, Yuusei?" Rally asked curiously, not really expecting an answer; Yuusei had brushed them off enough times in the past few weeks for him not to be hopeful.

Yuusei looked down at his Runner pensively, tapping a wrench against his leg. "Rally, you mustn't tell anyone I've been leaving like this. Other than the other guys, I mean. It could be dangerous."

"You're going into the city, aren't you?" Rally said excitedly. "What are you doing there?"

"Things," he said evasively. "I like just being there."

"Aw come on, Yuusei, I won't tell anybody…" Rally wheedled. "Please?"

Yuusei set the wrench back on the workbench – better known as the floor – and sighed. "Scavenging better parts, Rally," he lied. "That's all."

Rally knew him too well to take that as truth, but decided to drop it; he could somehow feel that whatever Yuusei was hiding had something to do with how happy he had looked before. The older man looked at the clock again, hands twitching, and Rally took that as his cue.

"Don't get caught," Rally cautioned him, hopping off the Runner and scampering away.

About an hour later, Yuusei pulled into the back entrance of Jack's garage, where there weren't any lights or cameras, and secured his Runner in a dark bay, settling his helmet over the handlebars before taking the service stairs up to the penthouse suite.

His legs were trembling and a sheen of sweat covered his face and the palms of his hands by the time he got to the top, breathing laboured. He took a few moments to recover before stepping towards Jack's door, keeping his face averted and stepping in the shadows of the hallway.

Jack opened the door before Yuusei could knock, proving he'd been watching the hallway. They smiled at each other and Yuusei crept in, timing his movements to the blind spots of the cameras. Only when the door was locked again did they touch.

"You're late," Jack murmured between their lips as they kissed, arms tight around each other.

"It was Rally," Yuusei replied breathlessly, kissing him back with a fierce ache raging in his chest. It was always like this, this need to touch even if they had seen each other earlier in the day. It could not be ignored. "He wouldn't leave."

"Ah," Jack said, his lips curving in a relieved smile against Yuusei's. "I was beginning to think…"

"Of course I was coming," Yuusei said quickly, framing Jack's face in his hands and looking up into his eyes seriously. "Nothing short of injury could keep me away."

Jack's expression softened and he wordlessly pulled Yuusei into the bedroom, forgetting to draw the blinds.

Sometime later, clothed in naught but each other's arms with the sweat cooling on their limbs, Jack pillowed his cheek on Yuusei's chest, feeling the other man's arms come around him protectively, one hand lightly stroking his hair in a soothing rhythm.

"What's wrong?" Yuusei asked softly. They knew each other far too well not to know when the other was upset about something.

"Goodwin's getting suspicious," Jack said tiredly, curling up into Yuusei's hold. "He knows I've been seeing someone; he thinks it's some whore from the Satellite."

"I've been called worse things," Yuusei said in a half-hearted attempt at humour. It still made Jack smile.

"You're not anybody's whore, Yuusei," He smiled. "I just worry he's going to take drastic measures to find out who it is."

"There isn't any more risk than usual, is there?" Yuusei said seriously. "I mean, I know I'm tracked now, but they wouldn't think…"

"No, I don't see why they would," Jack agreed, kissing Yuusei's navel tenderly. "I think we'll just have to be extra careful." He chortled briefly. "Goodwin even told me to be careful to avoid a paternity scandal."

Yuusei laughed with him, the absurdity all too plain. Then, softly, with his arms tight around Jack, he said, "They'll find out eventually."

"I know," Jack murmured. "But not now." And with that he rolled onto his back, pulling Yuusei on top of him and sliding his long legs along Yuusei's own shorter ones. "For now… let's just forget them."

Yuusei chuckled darkly, deep blue eyes flashing in the low light as he kissed Jack's lips, soft and yielding under his own. Jack sighed happily and wrapped his legs around Yuusei's hips, raising a hand to stroke the mark on his cheek. He knew that Yuusei hated that mark, the mark that made him even more disconnected, but that he loved it when Jack touched it like that.

Sure enough, Yuusei plunged a hand into Jack's now-wild hair and parted his lips with ease, slipping inside with a tender passion. Jack had no idea why Yuusei liked it so much, and was too distracted by the heat of their bodies crushed together and the slow motions of Yuusei's tongue to care to ask at that moment. He wrapped his arms around the shorter man's waist, melting into his touch.

So what if the sponsors were angry? This moment, this night, this touch, were more than worth their aggravation.

Early the next morning, before Jack and Yuusei had even begun to stir, Lazar was receiving a shady-looking visitor in his home office.

"Well?" He demanded, irritable at this early hour. "Did you find anything?"

The visitor looked vaguely repulsed as he nodded. "It's quite a surprise, Mister Lazar. You'll have difficulty keeping this one from the media."

"Stop dancing around the issue and tell me," Lazar said wearily.

Instead the PI handed over an electronic notepad with a flashing file icon, filled with digital photographs. "Remind me never to do celebrity work again. I've seen more than enough tonight for the rest of my life."

Lazar wasn't listening, he was instead scrolling quickly through the photographs, shocked. They had obviously been taken from the building next to Jack's, and although clearly long-distance were very good quality, showing _everything_ in mind-numbing detail.

The PI chuckled knowingly. "It's always the ones bursting with testosterone," he observed. "The ones you'd think would be babe-magnets."

Lazar sat down heavily, mouth open in shock as he dumbly flipped through them, seeing every kiss and touch and inch of skin exposed – and there was a lot of that. In some detached part of his mind he observed the reason for Jack's dishevelled appearance earlier; his lover apparently couldn't keep his hands off him, most especially his hair.

Finally he collapsed the screen, unable to look anymore and poured himself a generous glass of some sort of alcohol; in his shock he didn't care what it was, just that it made him feel less shaky and that it burned his throat.

He had known Jack and Yuusei had been spending time together regularly – Yuusei's mark had spelled out his movements in precise detail on the map – but he had thought they were reminiscing about old times, duelling, fighting… but he had never considered this. That they might be – could have ever possibly been – _lovers_.

The PI coughed significantly, breaking Lazar's reverie. Lazar tossed him a fat envelope of money and the PI scooped it up quickly.

"What a turnout, huh?" The PI grinned, shaking his head in disbelief and tucking the envelope into his pocket. "Who would've known… and you'd think the Master of Faster would want to be in control. Throws a whole new light on their duel at the Fortune Cup, doesn't it? Maybe Yuusei seduced him to lose the duel – or maybe he just loves submitting to the new Champion. Certainly seems that way."

"Quiet," Lazar said, pressing a hand over his eyes. "You've done well, now you must never tell anyone. No interviews, no juicy scoops. Keep your silence or I'll keep it for you."

The PI raised his hands. "Hey, I know the drill. Would I have lasted this long as a Private Investigator if I blabbed? Besides, I figure I can get more money for my silence than to break it."

Lazar looked at him sourly and tossed him another envelope, slightly thinner than the previous one. "I hate PIs," he grumbled.

"Whereas we just love you," the PI grinned, adding that envelope to the other. "I'll see you next month for the next instalment."

Lazar waved him away, keeping the electronic photographs though they sickened him.

"Now to break it to Goodwin that his favourite son has been tangling with the lab rat," Lazar sighed. He eyed the glass, then took another swallow. Sometimes you needed preparation, and he knew it was going to be one of those days already.


	3. Chapter 3

More~

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's (c) Kazuki Takahashi

* * *

><p>Jack was trying new techniques to boost his speed on his personal track when the call came in – Goodwin wanted to see him as a matter of urgency. Slightly puzzled by the odd phrasing of the message, Jack took the lift up to his penthouse suite. He smiled as he saw that Yuusei had left him a small present on the pillow, having slipped out at the crack of dawn. It was a pair of bands like the ones that held his tails, but made from scavenged metal scraps elegantly soldered together, polished to a shine. He knew Yuusei had made them himself.<p>

Touched by the affection in the gesture, he immediately put them on, smiling happily at his reflection in the mirror. They didn't look like dull metal, they looked like fine silver. No one would know.

"You're too skilled with your hands, Yuusei," he murmured smilingly to himself, quickly changing his clothes to ones more appropriate for a meeting rather than his jumpsuit, mentally making a note to make something for Yuusei to thank him.

Arriving at Goodwin's office, he suddenly felt self-conscious at the strange unsettled looks Goodwin and Lazar were giving him.

"What's this about?" He asked, sitting in the chair for once rather than lounging in it.

"Something has come to our attention," Lazar said stiffly, and tossed a metal tube to Jack, who caught it deftly and automatically opened the holographic screen.

When he opened the file he felt his face drain of blood and then flush with it in a strange dizzying cycle, seeing all of his night with Yuusei photographed in excruciating detail – there were even close ups on their faces at the point of orgasm, for heaven's sake.

He calmly looked at them all, giving none more or less time than any others. Curiously, the only thought that flickered through his mind was how _good_ he and Yuusei looked as a couple, how well they fitted and contrasted. When he had seen the last file, he closed the screen and looked up at the other two men.

"You set a photographer on me?" He said neutrally, assuming his best poker face even though his heart was pounding with dread. This could ruin both him and Yuusei for the rest of their lives if it got out.

"We needed to know where you were disappearing off to," Goodwin said in the same tone.

The next few moments were almost painfully awkward as none of them said anything, and they carefully avoided looking at each other for too long.

Deciding to take the offensive, Jack took a deep swallow of water from a carafe on the desk and laced his fingers together, speaking with more poise than he actually felt. "I assume you have questions, or did you call me here just to shove this in my face?"

"Did you throw the duel because of this – dalliance?" Lazar asked sharply.

"No," Jack answered simply. "He won fairly."

"How long has this been going on?"

Jack had to really think back… had it started when they had realised they wanted each other, or when they had actually confessed it? For he felt that on some level they had known what they felt for much longer than they had been able to accept. "Quite a while," he eventually answered, and refused to give a more precise answer because he had none.

The questions went on for over an hour, ranging from the polite – are you both healthy? – to the downright nosy – why do you let him rule you?

Those sort of questions got short, sharp answers that left everyone ruffled and uncomfortable.

"Are we done here?" Jack asked testily after Lazar had asked whether they had been sleeping together in the Satellite.

"Just one more question," Goodwin said, shooting an annoyed glance at Lazar. "Will you end it, now we know? You know that it will ruin both of you, this…"

"This relationship," Jack finished for him calmly. "And no, I won't. We care for each other, and that's that. This is no experiment, no idle curiosity. This is who we are, and we are together."

With that, he got up and left the room proudly, head held high although he really wanted to punch through the walls, duel Lazar and his PI into oblivion and run to Yuusei all at once.

Lazar stumbled into the hallway. "Jack! Wait, there are still things we need to discuss—"

"Are those the only copies?"

Lazar nodded.

"Then destroy them," Jack commanded, and swept into the lift, earning more than a few curious looks.

He went straight back home, sitting for a moment on his bed, which still smelled of that odd mixture of hot metal, leather, and a natural musk that Yuusei seemed to exude. He touched the metal bands fondly and went out to his study, where his videophone was located. He dialled in the pirate frequency Yuusei and his friends used.

Yuusei picked up quickly, his face slightly blurred by his bad transmitter and with a look of surprise. "Jack? What is it?"

Jack smiled faintly at him, seeing how there was a smudge of oily transmission fluid smeared over Yuusei's cheek, cutting across the marker, and how his hair was almost dented, revealing that he had been peering into the innards of his Runner. "Are you alone?"

Yuusei quickly looked around, absently setting down an oily screwdriver. "Yes," he said eventually. "Everyone but Rally is out at the recycling plants, and I think he's in the tunnels now anyway. What is it?" He fondly reached out to touch the screen, leaving a residue on the camera.

Jack couldn't help but smile and reached up to touch his new bands. "Thank you for these, they're really good."

Yuusei beamed with pleasure. "You're welcome, Jack. But you wouldn't risk calling just to thank me – unless…" He hesitated, looking unsure. "Unless you don't want me to come round tonight?"

This time Jack reached out to the screen. "That's not it, I want you to come," he said fondly. "I just have some bad news. Goodwin and Lazar set a PI on me. He has… pictures."

He watched as Yuusei's face grew pale, even under his deep tan. "What's going to happen?" He asked, sounding thoroughly shaken.

"I don't know. I told them to destroy the pictures, but I don't trust them. They might get released to the public. It would be damning."

Yuusei leaned forward, his face coming into sharp focus. "Even if that happens, I don't regret it, Jack. Not one bit, and I never will. You're more important to me than my reputation with the tabloids."

Jack felt a surge of warmth bubble up and leaned in too, placing his hand on the screen. "I don't regret it, either," he replied tenderly, and was rewarded by Yuusei's soft smile and him placing his hand to mirror Jack's, as if they were actually touching.

"If it gets released," Yuusei said after a few moments, "What will you do? Would you stay in the city?"

Jack looked around at his luxurious apartment, then back to Yuusei's face. "I would come back to the Satellite, Yuusei. For you."

Yuusei was about to reply when voices sounded and he whipped his head around in a panic. He hurriedly pressed his hand harder against the screen. "They're back, I have to go. I'll see you later, Jack."

Jack smiled and waved, then hit the Disconnect button.

In the hideout, Rally was crouched behind some discarded boxes, eyes wide as he processed what he had just overheard.

The others called out for Yuusei and he answered he was in the workshop, sounding a little rattled as he wiped the smudges off the communicator screen.

"Hey Yuusei, what're you doing with the screen?" Tank asked.

"Huh?" Yuusei answered distractedly, not looking at them. "I got a squirt of oil on it."

Rally bit his lip, knowing that if he popped up now Yuusei would know he had been eavesdropping, and there was no way to sneak around to join the back of the party without being seen. So he stayed quiet, hoping that once everyone had left he would be able to go. Though given how much time Yuusei spent with his Runner, he might be waiting quite some time.

The others chatted idly with Yuusei, who was plainly distracted and unsettled. They questioned him about it, Nervin in particular, until they saw that he just clammed up when asked and they soon left to make some dinner.

When they were gone, Yuusei sat down heavily and sighed, running an oily hand over his face and smearing it all over himself before he realised, and sighed again. Rally peeked out from behind the box and saw he was staring at the screen as if it might come to life again.

Rally knew this might be his best chance to sneak out, as Yuusei had his back turned to him. He crept out silently, heart pounding. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he knew Yuusei wanted to have some privacy. He almost made it out until he nudged a certain oily screwdriver, which rattled and clanged into the toolbox; Rally froze as Yuusei jumped and started round, real fear on his face.

As his eyes settled on Rally, he went pale. "How long have you been here, Rally?" he whispered, expression almost panicked.

Rally's eyes moved on their own towards the screen and Yuusei's expression became aghast, and he abruptly turned away, hiding his face and clutching the hammer tightly.

"I… I'm sorry, Yuusei," Rally whispered. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop… I fell asleep out here, and the screen woke me up…"

When Yuusei said nothing, only staring down at the floor to hide his face, Rally ventured to speak again.

"So… you've been meeting Jack in the city?"

He nodded and took a deep breath. "I suppose you'll know soon enough anyway – we were spotted, it can't be long before the oil hits the carburettor. Rally, me and Jack… we've been…" he sighed and hung his head. Rally drew closer, confused and waiting to hear the rest. Yuusei tried another tack. "You know about men and women and babies, right Rally? We taught you that?"

Rally slowly nodded, comprehension beginning to dawn in some corner of his mind.

Yuusei couldn't look at him, humiliation colouring his cheeks. "Well… it's not always men and _women_ who get along, Rally. Me and Jack have been… getting along. Do you understand?"

Rally clapped a hand to his mouth, unable to summon any response to Yuusei's revelation be it verbal or mental.

"Please say something, Rally," Yuusei begged quietly. "Hate us if you want, but please say something."

"But… he took your Runner, and Stardust Dragon. He tied me up and left me to drown." Rally said, slightly incredulous.

"I know, Rally, I know. I know it seems horrible, and wrong, but… it's how we feel. Can you forgive me?"

Rally bit his lip, head spinning. "You really… love each other?"

Yuusei bowed his head again, whispering his reply. "Yes, Rally."

"Then I can forgive you," Rally said awkwardly, knowing Yuusei needed to hear it. Indeed, the man's shoulder's relaxed slightly from their hunched-over posture. "But I still don't understand how…"

"It wasn't something we planned. It just… grew, and we couldn't ignore it."

Rally said quietly, "I'm sorry I eavesdropped, Yuusei. Are you alright?"

He smiled humourlessly, lifting his face a little to glance over at him. "I'll be fine, Rally. Are you alright, knowing this?"

Rally thought back to that expression he had surprised the previous day, the contented look on Yuusei's face. He thought he knew what had sparked it now.

"Are you happy?"

After a moment, a gentle, wondrous smile broke over Yuusei's face and he straightened up. "Yes, I am."

"Then I'm alright with it."

Yuusei looked at him in surprise, shock written all over his face in oily smears.

Rally smiled at him and awkwardly patted his shoulder. "You never really seem happy, Yuusei. If he makes you happy… then I want you to be happy. And I'm alright with it. We Satellites have got to stick together, right?"

Yuusei grinned – something Rally had never seen him do – and put his oily hand over Rally's. "Right."

"I won't tell anyone, Yuusei," Rally smiled. "It'll be our secret, okay?"

"You're the boss," Yuusei smiled. "Now go on – I bet dinner's almost ready. I have to go wash up; I'm filthy!"

Rally darted away then looked back at the doorway, watching Yuusei as he whistled under his breath and set about cleaning up the tools. Yuusei had shocked him to the core with his words, and he tried to reconcile it in his mind; the Yuusei who rarely smiled who had effectively raised him, who had a diffident disposition towards women, though he knew there had been a few; the Yuusei who didn't like to hear about Jack. He tried to settle that Yuusei with the Yuusei he knew now – the happy one, with secrets that would see him outcast if people knew, who had been sleeping with Jack and was apparently in love with him.

It seemed impossible as he watched Yuusei flip a hammer over by the handle and catch it again, whistling. But slowly, it began to make sense. Maybe he had rarely smiled because he was scared of his secret, and maybe there had been few women because he had been pining after Jack.

He had heard stories about _that_ type of man, of course. They were usually twinned with stories of the _other_ type of odd man, who liked to lead children away, especially those who didn't eat all their food.

_But Yuusei's no letch,_ he thought to himself. He had never done anything but protect Rally and his friends with the same intensity he would an injured kitten or a beggar – which Rally had seen him do before.

_If he's happy…_ Rally thought slowly, _Then that must be good. He's still my Yuusei, he hasn't changed. This is just all of him. With that he nodded, decision made, and ran off to eat his dinner._


	4. Chapter 4

More~

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's (c) Kazuki Takahashi

* * *

><p>Later that evening, Rally was stirred by the sound of Yuusei's Runner being revved, and he quickly ran out to catch Yuusei getting ready to leave. He looked over at Rally and smiled hesitantly.<p>

"What are you doing up, Rally?" he asked quietly, so as not to disturb the others.

"You're going to see Jack, aren't you?"

Yuusei nodded, and although Rally couldn't really see his face under the helmet and in the low light, he knew Yuusei was blushing.

"Can… Can I come? I wanna see Jack again, please Yuusei, please!" Rally blurted, twining his hands anxiously.

Yuusei sighed and flicked his visor up to look at the young boy. "It's dangerous, Rally. We're both marked – and while I think Jack might be able to shield me, I don't think he can protect both of us if we're caught. I don't want to be responsible for having you thrown back in the Facility, Rally."

Rally looked down at his feet, expression mulish. "If it's so dangerous, why do you keep going? Surely you're in more danger, as a – as a – his l-lover than me, just a kid!" Rally blushed hard but kept going, voice rising in his indignation. "It's not just you who misses him, Yuusei! You two almost raised me, it's not fair I don't get to see him too!"

"Keep your voice down," Yuusei hissed, looking around nervously as his words echoed off the tunnel walls.

Rally blanched and clapped his hands over his mouth, mouthing 'sorry' at Yuusei, who sighed.

"You promise to do what I tell you, no complaints?"

Rally nodded frantically, eyes shining with hope and mouthing 'please' over and over at Yuusei, who finally relented. "Alright," he sighed. "Hop on, and hang tight. It's a tricky path we're going to take so no one sees us."

"Alright!" Rally said excitedly, fetching a spare helmet and sitting behind Yuusei on the Runner, hanging on around his middle.

Yuusei laughed as they sped away through the tunnels, Rally's whoop echoing with it in their wake. About an hour later they pulled slowly into Jack's garage. Yuusei put a gloved finger to his lips with a sombre expression and Rally nodded seriously. Yuusei knelt down to speak quietly in his ear.

"From now on there are cameras, and we don't want to be seen. So we're going to take the service stairs, where there aren't any. Jack is in the penthouse, at the top. It's a long way – are you sure?"

Rally bit his lip, remembering how tall the building had looked from the outside, then at Yuusei's earnest face. He knew that Yuusei couldn't leave him here alone, and that he wanted to see Jack. So instead of admitting it seemed daunting, he nodded, earning a brief smile from Yuusei.

"That's the spirit. Now, off we go. Tell me if you need a rest; I've more or less gotten used to the climb."

They set off, and with Rally and his much shorter legs they stopped often, meaning that when they finally reached the top Rally was exhausted but Yuusei felt rather fresh, having rested when they stopped. He paused at the threshold of the corridor, motioning Rally to stop as well. He then peeled off his gloves and shoved them in his pocket. He knelt in front of Rally and made a beckoning motion with his head.

Rally understood immediately and settled on Yuusei's back to be carried in a strange sequence on stops and starts; it was obvious Yuusei had memorised the paths of the cameras and knew how to move in their blind spots. Rally crouched on Yuusei's back, fearful that at any moment alarms would sound or something like that. The door opened just wide enough for them to pass through and closed right after them.

Rally jumped off Yuusei's back and grinned up at Jack, who looked a little stunned. "Hey Jack! I missed you!" he then launched himself at Jack, hugging him tightly and laughing.

Jack looked over Rally's head at Yuusei, a question in his gaze. Yuusei just smiled at Rally fondly.

After Rally was satisfied with the hug, he hopped from one foot to another. "Hey Jack, where's your bathroom? I really gotta go…"

Jack and Yuusei wordlessly pointed in the right direction and Rally zoomed off, leaving them alone. Their eyes met and then suddenly they were pressed up against each other, kissing furiously. When they had calmed down enough to simply hold each other, Jack spoke.

"What's Rally doing here?"

Yuusei looked down at the floor, a little flushed. "He overheard our conversation – he was behind some boxes. I had to tell him, Jack… about us. And then he caught me as I was leaving, and he really wanted to see you, Jack. I couldn't be that cruel and deny him."

Jack shook his head in wonder. "You really are a sucker for kids, aren't you?"

"What?" Yuusei asked, smiling as he touched his handiwork in Jack's hair.

Jack put his hand over Yuusei's and squeezed to get his attention. "I mean, that you'd go a million miles to help some snotty-nosed, teary-eyed kid find a tissue."

"Is there something wrong with that?" Yuusei asked levelly, a little offended but knowing it was true.

"No," Jack said gently, surprising Yuusei by kissing him tenderly on the lips. "I think it's great, if a little inconvenient at times."

"Oh," Was all Yuusei could say to that as he pressed their lips together, hands sliding around Jack's neck with one playing with his hair and the other stroking the nape of his neck. Jack melted like butter at his touch and leaned down into him, arms tight around Yuusei's waist as their lips caressed each other. For a minute or two it was bliss, until a tactful cough came from the doorway and they sprang apart, not looking at Rally too much as they blushed furiously, embarrassed to have been caught.

Rally walked up between them, looking at the solemnly, then smiled and took both their hands, and placed them inside each other. "Come on guys, there's no need to be shy about how you feel," he said happily, patting their hands.

Yuusei smiled coyly at Jack and squeezed his fingers, holding his hand tightly and possessively. Jack smiled and blushed a little, bringing their entwined hands up to his lips to gently kiss Yuusei's knuckles.

For the rest of the evening, they talked of small things and people they used to know, and all the while Yuusei kept hold of Jack's hand, stroking it with his thumb tenderly under the table. Eventually though it was time to leave, as Rally had to get back or Nervin would worry in the morning. Rally tactfully stood by the door to give them privacy. They kissed again, holding each other close.

"Next time," Yuusei breathed on Jack's lips between kisses. "Next time, I'll spend the night."

"I look forward to it," Jack murmured back, stroking Yuusei's mark gently before pulling away and smilingly shooing Yuusei towards the door.

The day after that, the obnoxious reporter Angela was buzzing around Goodwin's building, having heard rumours of Jack Atlas telling Mister Lazar to destroy something.

"But what could be this thing?" She enquired of her Dictaphone as she skulked around. "Some secret dulling card? A new type of Synchro-Summoning? A deep dark secret from his past? A tragic – no, scratch that, _scandalous _affair? Rest assured, dear readers and possible journalist talent-spotters, Angela is on the case!"

She snuck into the building in the guise of one of the cleaning staff and quickly sleuthed her way up to the top floor, where Goodwin's office was located. After about an hour of pretending to work, Goodwin and Lazar both stepped out of the office, talking about inspecting the plans, whatever that meant. Angela noted it down in her notepad to investigate later and slipped inside the door to 'clean'.

She quickly rifled through all the drawers, looking for anything suspicious and making rhetorical comments into her Dictaphone every so often. Even a locked drawer didn't bother her – you didn't get to be a successful journalist without learning how to get creative, after all. There was only one thing – the metal tube of an electronic notepad. And there was red tape at one end, meaning the contents were classified.

Naturally, that piqued her curiosity.

Checking to see whether she would be disturbed, she opened the screen and her eyes widened in shock and then with greed. If a picture was worth a thousand words, she had several dissertations' worth right there in those intimate shots. And this story would be huge, prize-winning huge. Breaking the exclusive on the love affair of the two best known duellists would make her fortune for years!

Using a piece of rather immoral technology known as Copy-And-Paste, she quickly took a copy of the file onto a personal electronic notepad and stashed it carefully in her clothes before making sure everything was back in its proper place in the office.

And not a minute too soon, for just as she had finished she heard footsteps and Goodwin's voice, heading back towards the office. She innocently left, wheeling her cleaning cart like the world's best alibi, and strolled out.

When she was far enough from the building not to arouse suspicion, she stripped off her cleaner's outfit and ditched the cart in a skip – the Satellites would have fun with that.

She ran back towards her station's building, clenching the metal tube like it was worth ten times its weight in gold.


	5. Chapter 5

More~

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's (c) Kazuki Takahashi

* * *

><p>The next morning, Yuusei was sitting with his friends eating some thin porridge, watching the news on their pirated television.<p>

"…And I'm sorry Gerry I'll have to come back to you, urgent news just in!" The coifed reporter said, grinning rakishly into the camera then turning serious. Yuusei and his friends leaned in, half interested. "Our breaking story – Summoning the Love Card! Yes that's right, we have news of a love story between two top duellists, once thought to be rivals. But we have proof that this is real, folks!"

"But who are these duellists, Roland?" The other reporter asked, acting as if she didn't know.

"Well, Roxanne, none other than the world-famous Jack Atlas and Yuusei Fudo!"

Yuusei spat his porridge out in shock, eyes bulging as it burned his throat. His friends stared at him as the news station quickly rolled a couple of rather revealing pictures, and though they were careful to blank out any excessive nudity, they lingered rather a lot on close up shots of their faces, leaving no one in any doubt as to the truth of the pictures.

"I hear you cry, surely this is a hoax!" The over-enthusiastic anchor said, waving his hands dramatically. "But now we go _live_ to the exterior of the Atlas building, to join the plucky reporter who broke this story. Over to you, Angela!"

The blonde reporter grinned at the camera and swept her arm to encompass the mob of reporters outside the door of the building.

"Thanks, Roland! This is Angela, reporting the truth! And here I am, waiting for Mr Atlas to leave the building. Oh, and look over there, the doors are opening, there he is! Mr Atlas, Mr Atlas! Is it true you're sexually involved with Yuusei Fudo? How long have you know each other? Was it loneliness that drew you to the shooting star of the Satellite?"

Jack brushed them all off, ignoring them with an expression like stone as he was escorted by several burly men into a limousine, pulling a beret over his face.

"Well!" Angela said, sounding breathless and just a little cross. "I will be following Mr Atlas until I get my scoop! The only question I have for you, Roland, is: where is Yuusei Fudo? Does he have no comment? Where does he live – does anyone know this? And back to you, Roland." She winked and the screen flickered back to the news station.

"Well you heard it here first, folks!" The chirpy female reporter said. "And we'll be following this story very closely, of that you can be sure. Now, some background history on these two amazing duellists…"

Tank wordlessly switched off the set and they all stared at Yuusei, except Rally, like they'd never seen him before. He met their eyes briefly then looked down at the table and started cleaning up the porridge he had spat everywhere. Rally helped silently while everyone else just stared.

At last, Nervin stuttered, "Y-Yuusei, is the TV right? Are you and Jack lovers?"

Yuusei looked up and met all their eyes, forcing them to look away first. There was a strength in him that stopped him being embarrassed. Calmly, he said, "Yes, Nervin. It's true."

There was a stunned silence.

-x-

Jack flopped into the chair in front of Goodwin's chair, absolutely livid. "You said you'd destroyed those," he said in a dangerous tone.

Goodwin raised his hands in a placatory way, shooting a glare at Lazar. "We had made plans for them to be destroyed, but obviously they were leaked. We didn't mean for this to happen – both your reputations are ruined now."

"I don't care about that! I care about the mob of reporters trying to find Yuusei!" Jack burst out. "I know what the press is like – once they get their claws into him, he'll never be free of them, and I won't have that. So we need to throw them off his track, let him hide."

Lazar and Goodwin exchanged a glance. "So you really do care about him then," Goodwin said.

"Care?" Jack said angrily. "Of course I care, I bloody lo—" he stopped suddenly, looking shocked at himself.

He sat back down in the chair and sighed, ignoring the other two as they met each other's gazes again. "I'm going to leave to city and go back home, where I belong. But I don't want a herd of reporters following me to Yuusei's hideout, do you hear me?"

"Yes, Mister Atlas," Goodwin said quietly after a few moments. "I know of a way."

-x-

"Well, say something you clots!" Rally said into the dead silence, glaring at the others and putting a hand on Yuusei's arm. "It's not like he's changed or anything, he's still our Yuusei!"

"It's just who I am, guys," Yuusei said quietly, squeezing Rally's hand briefly in thanks.

"What about Akiza?" Tanner said after a moment.

_That _made Yuusei look up. "What about her?"

"Well, weren't you and she…? You know."

Yuusei slowly shook his head. "No, Tanner. I'm with Jack. I've never been with Akiza."

"What, really? But the gossip was—"

"Look, _no_!" Yuusei cried in exasperation. "I've been with Jack since before I met her, and I'd never cheat on him!" he slammed his chair back and stormed out, leaving a heavy silence in his wake where everyone glared at Tanner.

Finally Rally sighed. "Let's not all jump at once to go comfort our friend, guys," he said sarcastically and swept out after Yuusei.

He found the duellist down quite a ways in the tunnels, staring up at a crack that showed pure sunlight, sitting on the filthy ground. When Rally had sat beside him he sighed, not taking his eyes off the light filtering through.

"I thought they'd understand."

Rally put his arm around the older man in a brotherly fashion. "Just give them some time, they'll come around. I mean, it had to be a shock to find that out about one of your closest friends through a _news channel_, rather than him…" Rally let the implication stand in the air between them.

"I know," Yuusei said tiredly. "I know I should have told you guys what was going on… but it was just so private, so precious… and everyone was prying into our lives, with the duels and the Fortune Cup and everything, we just wanted to keep it to ourselves, where no one else could sully it." His voice turned bitter. "Is it really too much to want to be with someone and not have it picked apart by strangers? All I want is to be with him, and now… now we can't make our livings. Just because some nosy reporter wanted to make a big splash, we can't duel for our livelihood anymore. Who would want to employ a pervert, after all?"

His last words echoed off the walls and Rally flinched slightly and said nothing.

A long time later, when the last echoes were nothing but vagaries of memory, Rally spoke, his voice gentle. "You're not a pervert, Yuusei. It's like…" He cast around for an example. "Some people like to use special Dragon-decks, and other people prefer Scrap-decks. It's down to the person what they choose, and there's nothing wrong with that. Please don't be mad, Yuusei."

Yuusei hung his head, looking down at the filth they were sitting in. "I had just hoped that my friends would be there for me when I needed them."

Rally looked around, half hoping for the rest of the gang to materialise, but of course that didn't happen. "They will be, Yuusei. They'll come through."

"But I don't want them at some point in the future when they've decided they're still my friends after all," Yuusei whispered. "I want them now, when I need them."

Rally could only pat his shoulder and hope things would get better.

-x-

"Jack?" Tank said in confusion, blinking at the slightly smeared communications panel. "What are you calling for?"

Jack pinched the bridge of his nose. "I need to talk to Yuusei. Urgently."

"Ohh," Tank said with exaggerated tact. "I'll just go fetch him, and we'll all clear out to give you some privacy—"

"Tank!" Jack barked. "This is not one of those calls! Now just get him, we need to talk about damages and suing the ass off that Angela person for invasion of privacy. Now get him!"

Tank conferred with Blister and then they both shrugged down at the screen.

"He took off, Jack," Blister said calmly. "After we saw the news…well, we weren't exactly thinking straight. Tanner said some dumb stuff and it ticked Yuusei off, and he left. Rally went after him; they're somewhere in the tunnels."

Jack scowled at them in frustration. "Some friends you are. If you see him, tell him to contact me. We need to talk." With that the screen went dead as Jack disconnected.

"I don't know what Yuusei sees in him," Tank said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, I don't know," Blister smiled, teasing the portly man. "He certainly seems to care about Yuusei. And he's rather handsome, you have to admit."

"Not you too!" Tank exclaimed. "Is there just something about Jack that turns men's heads?"

Blister just laughed.


	6. Chapter 6

The last part~

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's (c) Kazuki Takahashi

* * *

><p>"Right, Goodwin, time to make good on that promise of yours. Get me to the Satellite without the paparazzi knowing about it," Jack ordered brusquely after he hung up.<p>

"Are you going to take anything with you, Jack? You won't be able to move back and forth through this passageway."

"I'll take what's on my back and nothing else," he declared. "I'm a Satellite, I know how to make do. Now take me there."

Goodwin bowed slightly and led him down through the bowels of the building, down through storage rooms and kitchens and secret basements that were marked by cryptic signs on the lift buttons. It was all very cloak and dagger.

When they finally got down into sub-sewer tunnels, Jack let out an exasperated snort. "Goodwin, couldn't we have just come here directly instead of doing all that prancing around through the kitchens?"

"No," Goodwin answered simply. Jack glared at the back of his head as they walked quickly through the empty sewer pipe.

"So where are we? I thought there was only one way into Satellite – and that's a different tunnel."

"Oh Jack," Goodwin replied, a hint of mockery in his voice, "If we advertised all the secret ways in and out of places they'd hardly stay secret, would they?"

Jack continued the glaring contest with the back of Goodwin's head until they had walked for what seemed like hours and Goodwin finally stopped.

He tapped a nondescript piece of iron girder and it rang hollowly like a bell before sliding away to reveal a slice in the wall, intersecting with another tunnel.

"I think you'll recognise that tunnel – it's where Yuusei likes to test his Runner's speed."

Jack looked at the iron girder, the slice in the wall and Goodwin's smug face. "I'm not impressed," he said firmly and ducked through into the other tunnel. Goodwin bowed briefly before the slice was covered up again as if it had never been.

Jack looked at it for a moment, wondering what it said that he was no longer surprised by such things. He glanced down at his arm, where the Crimson Dragon's mark was burned into his skin. "Figures." He muttered, and set off down the tunnel, looking for landmarks he recognised – or better yet, Yuusei. He knew that Yuusei liked to spend time in the speed tunnels when he was upset; and Jack had always been able to find him. He didn't bother calling out, just kept walking onwards and trusting that he would find Yuusei.

And sure enough, he did.

Yuusei was looking up at the sky through a crack in the pipes, Rally sitting vigil beside him. They didn't notice Jack until he was right upon them, and sat down silently next to Yuusei. Rally jumped in surprise and grinned at Jack, and Yuusei slowly turned his head to look at Jack, the light bathing his face and making his marker shine like gold.

"I told you I'd come back to Satellite for you," Jack said bashfully, taking Yuusei's hand.

"I had no doubt you would," Yuusei replied, squeezing his hand and leaning over to kiss him lovingly, a whole wealth of tenderness in his light touch. Jack felt all the tension in his body ooze out and he leaned in to Yuusei, offering his lips up and bowing his back, a slight blush on his cheeks. In answer to his supplication, Yuusei's strong hands cupped his cheek and snaked around his waist, pulling him closer. Jack was like putty in his hands, craving only that sweet touch and wishing to please… he had never felt this submissive before, and he felt like he should fight it but he didn't want to fight it, not anymore, he just wanted to give in and be safe in Yuusei's strong arms.

Neither noticed Rally creeping away with a smile on his face, they were too caught up with each other.

Jack only became dimly aware of his surrounds when Yuusei pulled back, breathing harshly with passion. Jack slowly realised that he was kneeling over Yuusei's thighs with his hands planted firmly in the muck of the tunnel either side of Yuusei's hips, back bowed and head arched up to meet Yuusei's lips; Yuusei held him tightly around the waist and at the back of his neck.

"Why'd you stop?" Jack breathed, eyes glazed with lust as they skidded over Yuusei's face.

Yuusei smiled and gently brushed the back of Jack's neck, making him shiver and press closer, offering himself utterly. "You don't want this in a tunnel, Jack, do you?"

Jack bit his lip, trying to compel some sort of logic into his fluid thoughts. At that moment he just wanted Yuusei to take him, he didn't care where. But a vague memory of biting mud insects cudgelled his brains into something resembling thought.

"Is there anywhere nearby?" he mumbled, aching for Yuusei's lips so close to his own but holding back, wanting Yuusei to plunder them.

Yuusei chuckled and leaned forward so that their lips buzzed together when he spoke. "I know a place. Let's go." His tongue then darted out to taste Jack's lip, making him close his eyes and press his hips right against Yuusei's, wanting to be even closer. Yuusei laughed darkly and lightly tugged on a tail. "No, Jack, we have to get up."

Unsteadily, feeling woozy from the strength of his feelings, Jack allowed himself to be led into a simple shack further down in the tunnels. It was simple, but it had a bed raised off the floor, which was all they really cared about anyway.

Jack fell onto it and began haphazardly removing his clothing until Yuusei made a 'tsk' noise and stepped in to do it instead, with his teeth instead of his hands. By the time he was naked, Jack was burning with need and grabbed eagerly at Yuusei as he calmly positioned himself to push into him.

Yuusei smiled slowly, revealing all his teeth in a luxurious, lecherous grin. Jack felt his bones turn to butter and groaned, then louder and louder as Yuusei thrust into him.

"_Yuusei!"_

The next morning, they appeared calmly at the breakfast table with innocent expressions, as if everyone half a mile in any direction hadn't heard the groans last night. Under the table they were holding hands, and everyone pretended not to notice. It was awkward at first, but soon they forgot why to be nervous and chatted like they had back in the days before Jack had left for the city, and even made a joke or two about them being a couple.

At one point, Rally sidled up to Yuusei and muttered, "See? They're here for you."

They turned on the news idly, and weren't really surprised to see all the coverage was of the scandal of the duellist couple and their mysterious vanishing act – perhaps, some speculated, they had even dared to elope somewhere.

Angela was rather put out that her story had been completely stolen, and also that Goodwin was taking a lawsuit against her for theft of classified information.

Eventually, of course, the furore died down. With Yuusei and Jack content in hiding, there was no fresh gossip to turn over, and soon everyone got bored and assumed they'd simply gone off somewhere. Occasionally Goodwin made a statement saying that they would be coming back at some point in the future, which seemed to keep Jack's sponsors happy. About half a year after the scandal, Goodwin sent a message saying that they could come back into the city.

Jack got the message first from one of Goodwin's people at the recycling plant, and was taking it back to the shack to share with Yuusei.

Yuusei was lying on his stomach on the bed, smiling faintly down at a piece of paper, like a flyer. He looked up and beckoned Jack over, sitting up and letting Jack sit across his knees, wrapping his arms fondly around the taller man's middle. "Here, Jack, read this. It made me smile. Read it aloud, go on."

Jack obediently took it up and started to read.

"_Summoning the Love Card – Better Not Worse._ Yuusei, what is this?"

"Just keep reading," Yuusei smiled, kissing Jack's shoulder.

Jack sighed. "Fine. _Now we all know about that scandal of a certain Jack Atlas and a certain Yuusei Fudo, champion duellists and secret lovers. But since that revelation, all it's ever gotten is bad press. Sin on that, fie on ye, how dare they be lovers when there are card games to be played. You've all heard that tripe. _Yuusei, is this actually going anywhere?"

Yuusei just smiled and stroked his hand along Jack's arm, making him relent.

"_But now it's time to look at the other side. Instead of condemning them for daring to want to be together, we should praise them for having the courage to do as they feel right. Sure, they've left a lot of broken hearts behind them now their inclinations have been so publicly – and in such a tawdry manner – screamed out, but this broken heart wishes to simply say, I hope you're happy together, and have everything you could wish for. Carly, editor of _The Brighter Side_ Magazine._"

Jack was quiet for a few moments, the carefully folded the flyer and set it down. Yuusei kissed his shoulder again.

"That was very sweet of her," Jack said eventually, leaning back into Yuusei. "We'll have to thank her when we get back to the city."

They were welcomed back with open arms and forced smiles, of course. The sponsors were glad to see them, the stadia managers were even more glad to see them, and the hard-core fans were simply ecstatic they had returned.

Yuusei moved in with Jack, and they soon became known as an unbeatable tag-team duo in Turbo Duels. It would be fair and rather accurate to say that they were rather content with each other – and all as a consequence of one love-bite.

* * *

><p>Thank you for reading, and if you could take the time to review this I would really appreciate it C:<p>

And again, once my workload has eased I'll be back to writing more regularly, for those stories I promised on my page C:


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